Matchmaker, Matchmaker

Hi friends! Every now and then we have the pleasure of refinishing a matching set of furniture, per custom request. Whenever a set comes in, whether it's a coffee table and end table set for a living room, or a matching bedroom set, it's always fun to imagine the room created around the pieces. 

I was definitely day dreaming about this while working on a bedroom set that was requested to be finished similarly to this beauty:

The dear gal who purchased this piece asked if I could use the same ultra distressed technique on her daughter's bedroom set. After she sent pictures of her daughters pieces, I knew it wouldn't be a stretch. The set had great bones and lines already! Here's what I came up with:

How to get this look:

I refinished these pieces in several layers, just as I did the large dresser several weeks ago. I painted them in Old White, by Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. Then I went over in Layla's Mint by Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint. The final coat is a mix of Pure White, (by ASCP), and Grain Sack, (by MMSMP). The mix of milk paint to chalk paint gives a chippy-er finish, drawing the paint up a bit so it flakes off easily. I finished by taking my electric sander with rough 100 grit sandpaper over both pieces and removing as much paint as possible in a few key spots - on the dresser I heavily distressed the frame of the drawer fronts and the protruding side panels. On the headboard, I focused on the protruding middle section, as you can see below.

The most important piece of information I about on the girl who this set will live with is that she is NOT a girly-girl. Her sweet Momma told me that she wanted the white distressed look, but nothing too 'sweet'. I think with the extra distressing, these pieces have an edgier, butt-kicking, 'don't mess with me' kind of look. Do you see it? :)

Love, love seeing side-by-side Before+Afters! These pieces were in great shape before - just needed a bit of character.

But then again, my stance is anything can be improved with a bit of character. ;)

Thank you all for stopping by!

DIY Ceiling Fan Upgrade

Hi All! Does this happen to anyone else: You see an idea that is so insanely easy that you just can't waste a second to try it yourself? This was me right after this post featuring Jen's bedroom and foyer Reader Design. She solved a simple issue in her bedroom which I'd been scratching my head about with our own.

The dated ceiling fan light fixture! I see so many gorgeous room makeovers where the ceiling fan is replaced by a stunning chandelier or pendant, but getting rid of our fan was not a suitable option for us. We may have still been getting snow into the middle of March, but Virginia summers are brutally humid with long stretches over 100 degrees. So, what to do about those intrusive tri-light foggy glass shades that no-one invited to the party?

How about add a drum shade!

I've been wanting to add a drum shade to this fan for quite some time, but it was one of those ideas that just wasn't at the top of my priority list as I figured it would require a decent chunk of time. Boy, was I wrong! I happened to click over to Jen's drum shade tutorial, and when I discovered this project would take me a quarter the amount of time it takes me to get all three of my kids out the door in the winter time, I didn't waste a second giving it a go!

The pictures below show what you'll be working with. See that screw cover which the pull chain is hanging from? That's the secret key! Start by unscrewing that, (and remove the foggy glass light shades).

Now, this is where my experience with this upgrade differs from Jen's. The center of her drum shade fit perfectly around the nipple, and she was able to then just reattach the cover from under the drum shade to keep the shade in place. Unfortunately, the center of my drum shade was much thicker than the nipple and there was nothing exposed to thread the cover onto. This was the quick fix:

Purchase a nipple and coupling from the hardware store, (the best option I found was a multi-pack of different sized nipples and it was only a few bucks). In the picture below, the coupling is on top, and the nipple is below, (for anyone who hasn't worked with these materials before).

Screw the coupling onto the nipple emerging from the fan.

Then screw one of your purchased nipples into the coupling. The size shown below ended up being too long so I used the next size down in my pack.

Then lift your drum shade up and into the center of the nipple, and hold in place with an appropriately sized washer. I ended up adding a second nipple underneath just because I had an extra one in the pack I had, but a washer on its own will do the trick.

Don't you just love when the ratio of time put into a project vs it's impact is like 1:4312343!?

Easy-peasy! Oh! And just FYI - I used a DIY paint stick lampshade for this project.

Thank you all for stopping by!

DIY Tree Stump Tables - ||Full Tutorial||

You guys, Cate and I have been working on a little side project that we are so close to finally being able to reveal! It's our first full design job and we lucked out with the sweetest young client who just moved into an apartment in Washington D.C. Aside from her bed, a sofa and a chair, we are starting from scratch. We are at the point now where most of her large pieces are done and we're moving into the fun decorating stage! 

Our client is an eclectic gal who appreciates various design styles, (so up our alley), and when she mentioned a desire to include some rustic elements in her decor, our minds jumped right to tree stump end tables, (yes, Cate and I have this weird thing going on where we often think of the same thing at the same time. It's both cooky and awesome).

I took a few shots of one of the finished stump tables in my home to show you since we're banking suspense for a full reveal post of this secret apartment. ;)

This seemed like a quick and easy project, but once we got rolling there were a few more logistics to consider. Hopefully this information is helpful to anyone out there who wants to try this so it really is a quick and easy project for them!

The first consideration was which type of wood to use. Oak and Maple are both popular trees in our area, but with Oak being so heavy, we decided Maple would be a better option, (we're strong girls, but our client is in a second floor apartment with no elevator, so....). When we found a tree cutting service taking down some Maples in my neighborhood we hit the jackpot! They were willing to give us what wood we needed for free and even offered to cut the specific size we needed, which was 24", (although for some reason they cut us two 48" sizes, so in the end we had to cut them ourselves anyways).

The next task was bringing the stumps inside to dry out, (by inside, I mean a garage or some covered area that's not your house). This is important as it will make the next stage, (stripping the bark), a little easier, and also help get rid of any critters under the bark.

Here's what one of the stumps looked like before leveling off the surface and stripping the bark. We used a miter saw to shave off the top surface to get it more level, (thanks for taking that on, Matt).

After a week or so of drying out the sumps, it was time to remove the bark! Cool as the bark looked on the stump, we wanted to warm the stumps up a bit and remove the cool grey toned bark. Also, not to deter anyone, but there are things that live in bark, so removing it will ensure a bug-free stump table. ;) 

To remove the bark I used a spackle knife and hammer. I'd pry the spackle knife under the bark a bit, and then tap the hammer on the spackle knife handle to pull the bark up. Then I could just lift the bark off easy peasy.

Here is the difference between a bark and de-barked finish. Love the multi-toned warmer colors of the wood underneath the cool grey bark!

After all the bark is stripped and the top surface is sanded smooth, (I used a rough, 100 grit sandpaper followed by a fine 220 grit paper to get the top surface really smooth to the touch), it's time to seal! I sealed the entire stumps, top surface as well as up and down the sides, with Minwax Polyurethane Sealer.

And bodda-bing! You've got rustic end tables! 

We are so excited to share these tables in the context of the apartment we're working on! Soon, baby, soon. If you happen to try this project yourself, please promise you'll share with the rest of us! We love seeing and showing off your creativity and handiwork , (just post photos of your projects to our Facebook page). 

And don't feel confined to end tables - another idea for tree stumps is using them as stools - I used a chunk that we needed to cut off from the original 48" stumps to use as a little stool under our industrial shelves. It's the perfect height!

Thank you so much for stopping by!